Meleia Willis-Starbuck is seen in an undated photo, placed at a makeshift memorial at the site of her slaying, Sunday, July 17, 2005, in Berkeley, Calif. The Ivy League student from Dartmouth, who championed social justice and aid for underserved communities, was shot and killed early Sunday near the University of California, Berkeley, campus, police said. (AP Photo/The Oakland Tribune, Laura A. Oda) Ran on: 07-19-2005
Meleia's younger sister, Mollie Dutton-Starbuck (center) and friends Marie Bennett (left) and Sarah Price visit a memorial. Ran on: 07-19-2005
Meleia Willis-Starbuck Ran on: 07-22-2005
Kimberly Willis-Starbuck, Meleia's mother, places a candle at a memorial to her daughter at the site where she was killed. BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE, MAGS OUT, , LOCALS PLEASE CREDIT Ran on: 07-23-2005
Some 900 mourners were on hand at the Berkeley High School gymnasium to pay tribute to Meleia Willis-Starbuck. Ran on: 07-23-2005
Meleia Willis-Starbuck Ran on: 07-23-2005
Meleia Willis-Starbuck Ran on: 07-23-2005 Ran on: 07-25-2005
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Meleia Willis-Starbuck is seen in an undated photo, placed at a makeshift memorial at the site of her slaying, Sunday, July 17, 2005, in Berkeley, Calif. The Ivy League student from Dartmouth, who championed ... more

Photo: LAURA A. ODA

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Fugitive in slaying of student is caught / Suspect could be charged with murdering friend

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(09-25) 17:49 PDT Berkeley (SF Chronicle) --

A 22-year-old man who spent two months as a fugitive could be charged as early as today with murdering a close friend in a tragic and seemingly senseless shooting less than four blocks south of the UC Berkeley campus.

Christopher Lester Hollis was being held Sunday in Berkeleys city jail after being arrested late Friday on a warrant by patrol officers in Fresno, said Berkeley police Lt. Arnold Lui.

Officer Joe Okies, the Berkeley police spokesman, said Hollis was arrested after an unrelated traffic stop in Fresno. Hollis, who at first gave Fresno police a false name, is being held without bail.

Police believe that Hollis accidentally shot and killed his close friend 19-year-old Meleia Willis-Starbuck, a Dartmouth student who had returned to her hometown of Berkeley for the summer. Willis-Starbuck allegedly called Hollis just before the shooting at 2 a.m. July 17 on a cellular telephone asking for help in an argument with a group of young men outside her apartment on College Avenue near Dwight Way.

Hollis and Willis-Starbuck, who met at Berkeley High School, were so close they called each other sister and brother.

The family is relieved that Chris Hollis was apprehended without further harm coming to anyone," Jean Hyams, a friend of the Willis-Starbuck family, said Sunday, reading a prepared statement. "But his capture cannot bring Meleia back.

Hollis mother, Terry Waters of Hayward, said Sunday that she was relieved to learn that her son was in custody when she received a phone call from him Saturday night from the Berkeley jail. She said her son should not be perceived as guilty because he was on the lam.

Hes young; hes scared, she said. Im relieved right now. I was so afraid for him out there.

A second friend of Willis-Starbuck, 20-year-old Christopher Larry Wilson Jr., who was charged with murder in the case and is free on bail, is to enter a plea Oct. 4. Authorities said Wilson drove the car that delivered Hollis to and took him away from the shooting scene.

Wilsons attorney has said he had no idea that there was a gun in the car that night, nor prior knowledge a shooting would take place.

Police have been looking for Hollis since shortly after the shooting. Court records show he spent 15 days in jail after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor hit-and-run after a car crash in Berkeley in June 2003. Hollis also has a felony conviction for possession of marijuana for sale and multiple arrests for resisting arrest.

A woman who was with Willis-Starbuck when she was killed said Willis-Starbuck became upset after a group of men called her and her friends bitches. Willis-Starbucks friends got into a parked Ford Explorer SUV, but Willis-Starbuck remained on the sidewalk and was outside the vehicle with the men when she was shot, that witness reportedly said.

Police have quoted one witness to the shooting as saying that Willis-Starbuck may have called Hollis and asked him to bring the heat, an account disputed by Willis-Starbucks family.